Why immigration reform requires a comprehensive approach that includes both legalization programs and provisions to secure the border

Harvard Journal on Legislation

Volumn 43, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 267-286

  Lee, Sheila Jackson ^a,b  

^a United States House of Representatives (D Tex)   (United States)

^b House Subcommittee on Immigration Border Security and Claims ^*

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33746359374     PISSN: 0017808X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (159)

1. See Press Release, President George W. Bush, Fact Sheet: Fair and Secure Immigration Reform (Jan. 7, 2004), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004y 01/20040107-l.html
2. See id.
3. See id.
4. See, e.g.. Ginger Thompson, Drug Violence Paralyzes a City, and Chills the Border, N.Y. TIMES, Mar. 24, 2005, at A4;
5. Ginger Thompson, In the Border Brutality, Discerning a Bright Side, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 26, 2005, at A4.
6. See Ralph Blumenthal, Citing Border Violence, 2 States Declare a Crisis, N.Y. TIMES, Aug. 17, 2005, at A14;
7. Ruben J. Garcia, Labor's Fragile Freedom of Association Post9/11, 8 U. PA. J. LAB. & EMP. L. 283, 349 (2006).
8. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. (2005);
9. H.R. 4044 109th Cong. (2005).
10. See generally Gerald L. Neuman, The Lost Century of American Immigration Law (1776-1875), 93 COLUM. L. REV. 1833 (1993).
11. See 1 CHARLES GORDON ET AL., IMMIGRATION LAW AND PROCEDURE § 2.02[1] (2005).
12. EMMA LAZARUS, The New Colossus, in SELECTED POEMS 58 (John Hollander ed., 2005).
13. Ch. 58, 1 Stat 570, 570-72.
14. See GORDON, supra note 8, § 2.02[1].
15. See id.
16. Act of Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 141, 18 Stat 477.
17. See Act of Aug. 3, 1882, ch. 376, 22 Stat 214, 214-15.
18. u See Act of Feb. 23, 1887, ch. 220, 24 Stat 414, 414-15; Act of Feb. 26, 1885, ch. 164, 23 Stat 332, 332-33.
19. See Act of Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 551, 26 Stat. 1084, 1084-86.
20. Ch. 8, 42 Stat 5, 5-7.
21. Ch. 190, 43 Stat. 153, 153-169.
22. See E. P. HUTCHINSON, LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF AMERICAN IMMIGRATION POLICY 1798-1965 484 (1981).
23. See Pub. L. No. 82-414, 66 Stat 163 (1952) (codified as amended in scattered sections of 8 U.S.C. and 18 U.S.C. § 1429).
24. See id.
25. See Kevin Keane, The U.S. Immigration Quota System, Feb. 21, 2006, http://www. kkeane.com/quota-faq.shtml.
26. See id.
27. See id.
28. See IMMIHELP.COM, EMPLOYMENT BASED GREEN CARD (2006), http:/www.immihelp. com/gc/employment/greencard.htrnl (last visited Mar. 16, 2006).
29. See U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol History (July 15, 2003), http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/history.xml.
30. See id.
31. See id.
32. See id.
33. See id.
34. See U.S. Customs and Border Protection, supra note 26.
35. See id.
36. See id.; Pub. L. No. 82-414, 66 Stat. 163 (1952) (codified as amended in scattered sections of 8 U.S.C. and 18 U.S.C. § 1429).
37. See id.
38. See id.
39. See id.
40. See U.S. Customs and Border Protection, supra note 26.
41. See id.
42. See id.
43. See id. at 1759.
44. See JEFFREY S. PASSEL, PEW HISPANIC CENTER, UNAUTHORIZED MIGRANTS: NUMBERS AND STATISTICS 3 (2005), available at http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/46.pdf.
45. Currently, only 11,000 Border Patrol agents are available to patrol the over 8000 miles of U.S. Borders. See U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP Border Patrol Overview (Jan. 11, 2006), http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_secnrity/border_patrol/overview. xml.
46. See Mike Madden, New Border Chief Maps Strategy, ARIZ. REPUBLIC, Feb. 15, 2006, available at http://www.azcentrl.com/arizonarepublic/news/article/0215ice-qa0215html.
47. This number has risen from 10.3 million unauthorized migrants in 2004 and 9 million unauthorized migrants in 2003. See PASSEL, supra note 41, at 3;
48. MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE, UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES 1 (2003), http://www.migrationpolicy. org/pubs/two_unauthorized_immigration_us.pdf#search='undocemented% 20immigrant%2 Opopulation.
49. See National Public Radio, Public Immigration Concerns Contrast with Policy, Oct. 7, 2004, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyID=4075602.
50. See Terrorist Threats to the United States: Hearing Before the Subcomm, on Immigration and Claims of the House Comm, on the Judiciary, 106th Cong. 34 (2000) (statement of Steven Emerson, Executive Director, Terrorism Newswire).
51. See id.
52. See Thomas J. Walsh, Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB: How the Supreme Court Eroded Labor Law and Workers Rights in the Name of Immigration Policy, 21 LAW & INEQ. J. 313, 317 (2003).
53. But see Qianwei Fu, Note, Eldred v. Ashcroft.- Failure in Balancing Incentives and Access, 38 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 701, 717 (2005) (arguing that undocumented immigrants have the capacity to have the same community ties that documented ones have, including family, employment, participation in community organizations, and an intention to make the United States a permanent home, but that they lack the official recognition of those ties through a visa).
54. See Alan O. Sykes, The Welfare Economics of Immigration Law, in JUSTICE IN IMMIGRATION 158, 159, 161 (Warren F. Schwanz ed., 1995).
55. See George J. Borjas & Lawrence F. Katz, The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States 37-38 (Nat'1 Bureau of Econ. Research, Working Paper No. 11, 1281, 2005).
56. See David Card, Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Impacts of Higher Immigration, 19 J. LAB. ECON. 22, 57 (2001).
57. See Pub. L. No. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359 (1986) (codified as amended in scattered section of 8 U.S.C.).
58. See 8 U.S.C. § 1324a (2000). For employment purposes, an "unauthorized alien" is one who is not either lawfully admitted for permanent residence or authorized to be so employed by law or by the Attorney General. See id. § 1324a(h)(3) (2000). Thus, the term covers illegal aliens as well as aliens here temporarily whose status does not permit them to work, such as tourists.
59. In 2005, Wal-Mart agreed to pay Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) $11 million to settle charges that the store had contracted with cleaning companies that hired undocumented immigrants. See Madden, supra note 43.
60. See JAMES R. EDWARDS, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES, Two SIDES OF THE SAME COIN: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (2006), available at http://www.cis.org/articles/2006/back106.html (noting that the estimated illegal immigration population has tripled since 1980, in spite of the adoption of LRCA in 1986).
61. See, e.g., MICHELLE MALKIN, INVASION: HOW AMERICA STILL WELCOMES TERRORISTS, CRIMINALS, AND OTHER FOREIGN MENACES TO OUR SHORES (2002).
62. See U.S. DEP'T OF JUSTICE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF IMMIGRATION REVIEW, ADJUDICATING REQUESTS FOR STAYS AT THE BIA, http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/bia/stays.htm (last visited Apr. 4, 2006).
63. See THE AM. BAR ASS'N COMM'N ON IMMIGRATION POLICY, PRACTICE AND PRO BONO, BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS: PROCEDURAL REFORMS TO IMPROVE CASE MANAGEMENT app. 9 (2003).
64. See Exec. Order No. 2005-040 (Aug. 12, 2005), available at http://www.governor. state.nm.us/orders/2005/EO_2005_040.pdf (declaring a disaster in Hidalgo, Luna, Dona Ana, and Grant Counties due to border security concerns).
65. See id.
66. See Exec. Order, Gov. Janet Napolitano, Declaration of Emergency: Arizona/Mexico International Border Security Emergency (Aug. 16, 2005), available at http://www.governor. state.az.us/press/2005/0508/DE%7E081605%7EAZMEXBorderSecurity.pdf.
67. See id.
68. See id.
69. See Press Release, Gov. Rick Perry, Perry Announces Comprehensive Border Security Plan for Texas (Oct 12, 2005), available at http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/press/ pressreleases/PressRelease.2005-10-12.2500.
70. Id.
71. See id.
72. See THE OFFICE OF BORDER PATROL, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL STRATEGY 2 (2004), available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/national_ bp-strategy.ctt/national_bp-strategy.pdf.
73. See Gabriela A. Gallegos, Redefining the National Interest in U.S. -Mexico Immigration and Trade Policy, 92 CAL. L. REV. 1729, 1757-58 (2004).
74. See TIMOTHY H. EDGAR, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, ACLU MEMO TO INTERESTED PERSONS REGARDING CONCERNS IN H.R. 4437, THE "BORDER PROTECTION, ANTITERRORISM, AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CONTROL ACT OF 2005" (Dec. 7, 2005), available at http://www.aclu.org/natsec/gen/22371leg20051207.html.
75. See Madden, supra note 43.
76. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 1.
77. See id.
78. See id.
79. See id.
80. See id.
81. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 1.
82. See id.
83. See id.
84. See id.
85. See id.
86. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 1.
87. See id.
88. See id.
89. See id.
90. See id.
91. See Press Release, President George W. Bush, President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program (Jan. 7, 2004), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/ 2004/01/20040107-3.html.
92. See id.
93. See generally Frank W. Munger, Social Citizen as "Guest Worker": A Comment on Identities of Immigrants and the Working Poor, 49 N.Y.L. Sen. L. REV. 665, 668-74 (2004) (discussing the plight of low-wage and immigrant workers).
94. See Julia Gelatt, Bush Puts Immigration Reform Back on Agenda, Approves Funding for DHS, MIGRATION POLICY INST., Nov. 1, 2005, http://www.migrationinformation.org/ USfocus/display.cfin?id=346.
95. Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean totaled more than $53 billion in 2005, exceeding both foreign direct investment in and international aid to those countries. See Richard Lapper, Home Economies Helped by $54bn Migrant Cheques, FIN. TIMES, Mar. 30, 2006, at 12.
96. See, e.g., Patrice Hill, Industries Back Illegals Plan, WASH. TIMES, Mar. 11, 2004, at A1.
97. See, e.g., Thomas J. Espenshade, Does the Threat of Border Apprehension Deter Undocumented US Immigration?, 20 POPULATION & DEV. REV. 871, 872 (1994) ("[T]he typical undocumented migrant who is already established in the United States faces an annual probability of being apprehended of 1-2 percent.");
98. Alberto Dávila et al., The Short-Term and Long-Term Deterrence Effects of INS Border and Interior Enforcement on Undocumented Immigration, 49 J. ECON. BEHAV. & ORG. 459, 462 (2002) ("[Increases in INS enforcement resources do not appear to be a significant long-term deterrent to Mexican attempted illegal immigration.").
99. See Brian DeBose, Immigrant Competition Shown to Depress Wages, WASH. TIMES, May 5, 2004, at A3;
100. cf. Walsh, supra note 47, at 313.
101. Cf. Press Release, President Bush, supra note 1 (describing only strengthened enforcement of existing laws as a component of President Bush's proposal).
102. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 85.
103. See, e.g., CAL. HERITAGE PROJECT, THE BRACERO PROGRAM: LEGAL TEMPORARY FARMWORKERS FROM MEXICO, 1942-1964, http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CalHeritage/latinos/ braceros.html (last modified May 17, 2004) (describing how the United States failed to provide the benefits originally promised to Mexican workers temporarily doing agricultural work in the United States through the Bracero Program);
104. Michael Holley, Disadvantaged by Design: How the Law Inhibits Agricultural Guest Workers from Enforcing Their Rights, 18 HOFSTRA LAB. & EMP. L.J. 575, 583-85 (2001) ("If [a bracero] complained [about poor conditions], he would be fired without any practical recourse, blacklisted and sent home with debts still owing.");
105. Kristi L. Morgan, Evaluating Guest Worker Programs in the U.S.: A Comparison of the Bracero Program and President Bush 's Proposed Immigration Reform Plan, 15 LA RAZA L.J. 125 (2004).
106. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 1 (listing policy proposals and failing to include such an increase).
107. See PASSEL, supra note 41, at 3.
108. H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. (2005).
109. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 85 (making program available to "undocumented men and women now employed in the United States").
110. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. § 201 (2005).
111. See id. § 203.
112. See 8 U.S.C. § 1259 (2000).
113. See 131 CONG. REC. E936 (Mar. 19, 1985) (statement of Sen. Kindness) ("[O]ver time[,] many [immigrants] make their home here, raise their children here, and ultimately become taxpaying contributors to American pluralism").
114. The registry provision cutoff year was amended to 1972 in 1986. See Pub. L. No. 99-603, § 203, 100 Stat 3359 (1986) (current version at 8 U.S.C. § 1259 (2000)). Since a fourteen-year residency period was acceptable in the 1986 amendments, a twenty-year period should be reasonable now.
115. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. § 403 (2005).
116. Id.
117. See id.
118. See Tisha R. Tallman, Liberty, Justice, and Equality: An Examination of Past, Present, and Proposed Immigration Policy Reform Legislation, 30 N.C.J. INT'L L. & COM. REG. 869, 888 (2005).
119. See Pub. L. No. 82-414, 66 Stat 163 (1952) (waiver sections codified as 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1182(d)-(i)).
120. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. tit. V (2000).
121. See 151 CONG. REC. H6081 (July 19, 2005) (statement of Rep. Jackson Lee).
122. See U.S. Customs and Immigration Serv., How Do I Bring My Fiancé(e) to the United States?, http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/fiance.htm (last visited Jan. 20, 2006).
123. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. § 103 (2005).
124. See 8 U.S.C. § 1153(c) (2000) (requiring that applicants for diversity visas not hail from a country from which the Uniteid States admitted more than 50,000 natives in the previous year and that they have completed at least the equivalent of a high school education or two years of work experience).
125. See id.
126. This program marks the first time in our history that Africans have been able to immigrate by choice in significant numbers. See Andowah A. Newton, Injecting Diversity into U.S. Immigration Policy: The Diversity Visa Program and the Missing Discourse on its Impact on African Immigration to the United States, 38 CORNELL INT'L L.J. 1049, 1077 (2005).
127. Furthermore, the program has allowed immigration to resume from the Warsaw Pact countries, which had previously prohibited its citizens from emigrating during the Cold War. See Paul J. Smith, Geography and the Boundaries of Confidence: Military Responses to the Global Migration Crisis: A Glimpse of Things to Come?, 23 FLETCHER F. WORLD AFF. 77, 78-79 (1999) (discussing the rise in immigration from the former Soviet countries);
128. see also Francis A Gabor, Reflections on the Freedom of Movement in Light of the Dismantled "Iron Curtain," 65 TUL. L. REV. 849, 853 (1991) (discussing America's hostile response to the Soviet Union's curtailing its citizens' right to freedom of movement).
129. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. § 701 (2000).
130. Pub, L. No. 89-732, 80 Stat. 1161 (codified as amended at 8 U.S.C. § 1255 (2000)).
131. See Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1999. 105 Pub. L. No. 277 § 902(b), 112 Stat. 2681-539 (codified as amended at 8 U.S.C. § 1255 (2000)).
132. See Bill Frelick, Letter to the Editor, Most Favored Refugees?, WASH. POST, Apr. 20, 1998, at A18.
133. See Cuban Adjustment Act §1.
134. See, e.g., John N. Paden & Peter W. Singer, America Slams the Door (On Its Foot): Washington's Destructive New Visa Policies, FOREIGN AFF., May-June 2003, at 8-14.
135. See Diversity Visa Program: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 109th Cong. 4-8 (2005) (statement of Bruce A. Morrison, Chairman, Morrison Public Affairs Group).
136. See Karen C. Tumlin, Suspect First: How Terrorism Policy Is Reshaping Immigration Policy, 92 CAL. L. REV. 1173, 1179, 1190, 1228 (2004) (describing the transfer of immigration oversight from the INS to the Department of Homeland Security, which adversely impacted refugees; the creation of Operation Liberty Shield, which requires immediate detainment of asylum seekers from 34 "Al Qaeda" nations; and the freezing of refugee admissions following September 11th).
137. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (2000).
138. See id.
139. See Cara D. Cutler, The U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement: Slamming the Door on Refugees, 11 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP. L. 121, 142 n.79 (2004).
140. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. § 1003 (2005).
141. See Jodi Wilgoren, Traces of Terror: Domestic Security; U.S. Terror Alert Led to No Change in States' Security, N.Y. TIMES, May 25, 2002, at Al.
142. See Pub. L. No. 82-414 § 287(g), 66 Stat. 163 (1952).
143. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. § 1202 (2005).
144. See H.R. 4044, 109th Cong. (2005).
145. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 1.
146. See Madden, supra note 43.
147. See id.
148. See H.R. 4044, 109th Cong. § 301 (2005).
149. See id § 101.
150. See id. § 403.
151. See id. § 404.
152. See id §§ 103, 105-110.
153. See H.R. 4044, 109th Cong. §§ 305-307, 310, 313, 315-316 (2005).
154. See id. § 201.
155. See New Bill Would Bolster CBP, FEDERAL DAILY, Oct 18, 2005, http://www.clubfed. com/federaldaily/archive/2005/10/FD101805.htm.
156. See Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Introduces Major Immigration Enforcement Bill, NEWSLETTER (9/11 Families for a Secure Am., Staten Island, N.Y.), Oct 14, 2005, http:// www.911fsa.org/newsletters/news2005oct15.pdf.
157. See Press Release, President Bush, supra note 1.
158. See H.R. 2092, 109th Cong. (2005);
159. H.R. 4044 109th Cong. (2005).